It doesn’t matter whether you’re a child, it doesn’t matter whether you’re pregnant, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a woman, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an unaccompanied minor, it doesn’t matter if you have a health condition, if you’re fit enough to get on a boat then you can expect you’re fit enough to end up in offshore processing.1

—Scott Morrison, Australian minister of immigration

Situated 800 kilometers from the capital of Papua New Guinea, the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre is a remote outpost far from the political dispatches of the Australian government in Canberra. Manus Island became an active base for US soldiers during World War II. Littered throughout the area are dilapidated Quonset huts first erected on the site by the Americans; some of these structures are still being salvaged to house new detainees and offices. Along the island’s first paved road connecting the airport to the detention center, building contractors ensured that the footprint of the former military base was reused. Located on state land, the current detention facility on Manus is a collection of enclosed compounds in which canvas tents, shipping containers, and other prefabricated units have been erected on flood-prone terrain (Figure 1). Two prominent entry points guarded by men with machine guns are located behind at least three additional layers of chain-link fencing. Between each of the compounds is a narrow corridor that reduces interactions among detainees. At the heart of the center stand two long elevated prefabricated buildings whose windows have been obscured by plastic tarpaulin; a small sign indicates that the shower, toilet, and entertainment area are nearby.

Figure 1

Manus Island Regional Processing Centre, Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, October 2013. After taking this photograph, both authors were interrogated by the detention center director and local armed guards (authors’ photo).